Will Wisconsin Redraw Its Legislative Boundary Map?

Fair-minded
Wisconsinites have complained bitterly about the Republican-drawn
electoral map
that seems to ensure that Democrats will be in the minority in the state Legislature—even
when they receive more votes statewide than their Republican counterparts.

For example, in
the November 2012 elections, Democrats earned 53.5% of the vote statewide, but
just 39% of the seats in the Assembly.

Next week,
however, those complaints could turn into action as attorneys for 12 Democratic
voters make their case against the map in
front of a three-judge panel in federal court beginning on May 24.

The Democrats
argue that the Republican-drawn map is so heavily biased toward the GOP that
it’s unconstitutional.

“The map is
heavily favored toward one party,” said Sachin Chheda, director of the
bipartisan Fair
Elections Project,
which supports the lawsuit. “It treats the voters of one party very differently
than the voters of the other party. Voters who support Republicans have a much
greater chance of converting their votes into seats than voters who support
Democrats.”

In fact, the
Democrats claim that Wisconsin’s current electoral map is the most politically
biased map drawn in modern history and they’ve got a new statistical model to
prove it.

“We don’t have a
democracy in Wisconsin,” Chheda said. “We don’t have the kind of the
accountability where the policy decisions made by elected officials can be
addressed by the voters. The elected officials are going to win no matter what
they do.”

If the Democrats
win their case in court, the judges could require the state to redraw the
legislative map so that it more accurately reflects the voters’ will. Whether
that could happen before the November general election is to be determined
pending the outcome of the May 24 trial.

If there’s a
swift decision, Wisconsinites may head to the polls this fall to vote in
different legislative districts, for different legislators.

Another reason
to pay attention? The vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, created by the death
of Justice Antonin Scalia and U.S. Senate Republicans’ refusal to confirm a
replacement during the Obama administration, could have an impact on the case,
which observers have called as important as Brown v. Board of Education,
which struck down segregation in schools.

GOP
Map Drawn Up in Secret

Each decade,
after the U.S. Census, the states draw new electoral maps to reflect changes in
their population. Elected officials are typically responsible for drawing the
new map, but when power is split between the two parties—for example, when
Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson was in office, but the Legislature was
controlled by Democrats—either the Legislature and the governor agree on a
compromise map or lawsuits are filed and members of the court system take
charge of redistricting.

For the past 40
years, Wisconsin’s maps have been drawn by the courts because state leaders
were split between the two parties and couldn’t agree on a map.

But that changed
in 2011, when Republicans took control of both houses of the state Legislature
and the governor’s office. Instead of working with Democratic legislators to
craft a map, the Republicans hired the Michael Best & Friedrich law firm
and an outside expert to draw the new legislative map in secret, in a private
office on the Capitol Square. GOP lawmakers were required to sign a secrecy
oath before viewing the map.

Not
surprisingly, the resulting map heavily favored Republicans.

The Democratic
plaintiffs in the gerrymandering case contend that the Republicans “packed” and
“cracked” Democratic voters into a minority of legislative districts, instead
of creating legislative districts that are more equally balanced between
Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats say the amount of wasted Democratic
votes reaches 12%, which is what they say the Republican experts intended. They
argue that more than 7% of wasted votes is unconstitutional.

A spokesman for
the state Department of Justice (DOJ), which is representing the Republican
legislators in court, wouldn’t answer the Shepherd’s questions for this
article and pointed to the filings in the case instead. There, the DOJ argues,
“there is no constitutional right for political groups to obtain a percentage
of legislative seats corresponding to the percentage of votes their candidates
earn statewide in legislative contests.”

The
Court Battle

The Democrats’
case has already survived two challenges before a three-judge panel that’s
hearing the case. The judges voted unanimously—twice—to disregard the DOJ’s
objections and allow the case to proceed to trial, slated for May 24. And if
you think the judges are Democrats and automatically favor the plaintiffs,
think again. While U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb was appointed by
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, Judge Kenneth Ripple was appointed by Ronald Reagan
and Judge William Griesbach was appointed by George W. Bush.

The panel has
blocked off four days for the trial, when they’ll hear oral arguments and
testimony from experts. The judges will make a decision without a jury, but
there’s no sense of when that will happen.

No matter what
they decide, there’s a good chance that it will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme
Court.

And this is
where the case gets interesting.

The plaintiffs
crafted their standard for measuring partisan gerrymandering because U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed to ask for one in a 2004 case.
Kennedy appeared to say that he would be open to reviewing claims of unfair
electoral maps, but that he needed some way to objectively measure partisan
bias.

There’s no way
to know how the justices would rule on Wisconsin’s electoral map, but the open
seat on the court, created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the
Republicans’ refusal to confirm Obama’s appointee, Merrick Garland, could
impact the ultimate decision.

Currently, if
the eight-member Supreme Court is deadlocked 4-4, the decision of the appeals
court would be upheld automatically—in this case, the ruling of the three-judge
panel.

Without Scalia,
the court seems to be split between three conservatives—justices John Roberts,
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito—and four liberals or moderates, including Ruth
Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Kennedy, who
asked for the gerrymandering standard in the 2004 case, seems to be the swing
vote.

Chheda wouldn’t
speculate on the Supreme Court’s role in the case, but he said that it was
possible that one of the courts would request that Wisconsin redraws its maps
in a less biased way—and could do so in time for the new maps to be in place
for the November election.

“It’s possible
if we get a quick decision and the Legislature implements new maps before the
election,” Chheda said.

Chheda said it
was important for all voters to have a fair map, since incumbent legislators
who feel safe in their highly partisan districts become highly partisan in their
actions in the Legislature. They don’t compromise and this leads to
legislative gridlock unless they control both houses of the Legislature and the
governor’s office as the Republicans do in Wisconsin.

“If we want
democracy to work we need to have elections that are meaningful and reflect the
will of the people,” Chheda said. “We feel that if you had a Legislature that
was responsive to the will of the people and that was conscious of the fact
that if they made unpopular decisions the voters would punish them, then they’d
have to moderate their decision-making and find compromise.”

News and Views

Comments (8)

Gerrymandering is a way that weakens the vote powe...

Gerrymandering is a way that weakens the vote power of Democrats, even the white Christian ones who do have photo ID. Basically it is letting the politicians choose their voters, not the voters choosing the politicians.They are using the concept of "voter efficiency" to measure the amount of "waste" of partisan votes. 2 ways to waste votes... be in the losing 49% is the obvious one, the other is to have anything above 51%. Let me explain further...You already know that Wisconsin is a fairly equal 50-50 battleground state as shown by our statewide elections like Governor, Attorney General, State Supreme Court Justice, or for US Senator, or electoral votes for President.Then tell me why so many legislative seats are held by Republicans?Everyone knows that a voting district that is 60% Republican and 40% Democrat has no chance of being anything but red. That means all of the Democrats 40% was wasted and only 10% was wasted Republican votes. But imagine the re-drawn lines were such that pro-Democrat districts were packed with about 90% Democrats. That way only 10% Republicans were wasted but the Democrats there had wasted 40% of theirs to get that blue seat in the capital. That's like statewide having 4 times as many wasted Democrat votes compared to wasted Republican votes. The result is a low seat count for Democrats despite being in the majority.Now, what can be done to fight this? Democrats are going to have to move to Republican districts, as unpleasant as that may be. It is the only way.

WaukeshaGuymore than 2 years ago

I think I heard recent news since this post talkin...

I think I heard recent news since this post talking of the arguments given to prove this is gerrymandering to an extreme level, and even Conservatives tell me "gerrymandering is illegal". All over this is the work of keeping it secret and not exposed to the public or through Freedom of Information Act requests.Tells me that "People are only as honest as what they think they can get away with"... so that "remorse" after getting caught is not for what they did, more like "where did I slip up that I did get caught?"Now if all students and Milwaukee blacks just got their party on, then nobody would really care! Amazing what the traditional suburb people seem to believe, especially when all my conservative co-workers are also all about getting their summer party on. Now if all of these people did have better pay, they would not be complaining and they would be getting their party on!

WaukeshaGuymore than 2 years ago

Ms Kaiser, imagine if our Liberal Democrats had pr...

Ms Kaiser, imagine if our Liberal Democrats had properly applied extreme military force and pushed people of color out into all formerly white and affluent districts so that the proportions are equal in all districts, no matter how they would be gerrymandered.The result of this would be that Congress would not have a single person of color, non-european descent, or non-Christian faith.Whenever you have a population minority, they must be concentrated in order to get them over the 60% election-proof voter base. Harkening back to the unanimous 9-0 (not 5-4) Supreme Court decision of Brown v Board of Ed of 1954, they basically said "Separate will never turn out equal".And "scared white people"... think about this, when you concentrate people you do not like, they feel like a majority and that there is nothing that can stop them. Plus, with "them" mixed in with you, you will then be able to watch and understand them, learn how to sell to them, learn how to work with them. You may find out they are not so different from you.Life really would be better if you learned how to mix them into your own so you can role model a good proper life, teach them "how to act", show them by example that a work ethic gets your further in life than a hand-out."Give a man a fish and he is fed for a day. Teach a man to fish and he is fed for life."

WaukeshaGuymore than 2 years ago

For Democrats, democracy only happens if they get ...

For Democrats, democracy only happens if they get things their way. Stop whining about having 53% of the vote. Thats like the Packers whining they had more yards gained but lost the football game. Or may I suggest growing up, getting a big boy job, and moving to a nicer area. But but but......... I'm too tired to get a job..................yep keep complaining dunce.

djlresearchmore than 2 years ago

Please, please do the world a huge favor and just ...

Please, please do the world a huge favor and just kill yourself already. And if you have a spouse or any offspring (not that I can imagine a woman being capable of having physical contact with you without recoiling in total disgust) please take them with you while you're at it. The literal definition of the word 'democracy' means government by the people i.e. rule of the majority. Last I checked, 53% is a larger number than 47% and should translate into greater political representation in the state legislature. That is if we live in an actual democracy and not some authoritarian state dictated by rwnjs. What does your asinine comment about getting a big boy job and moving to the suburbs have to do with liberals having their votes cancelled out by nefarious conservatives who can't win elections without cheating? How is it that Paul Ryan lives in Janesville, but represents the voters of Racine? Shouldn't Janesville be grouped together with Beloit? Oh wait, Beloit's large African-American population would never vote for a Randroid like Ryan, so the Repugs have to get creative with how they draw districts in order to disenfranchise black voters in both Racine and Beloit.

Anonymousmore than 2 years ago

Well yeah, we gotta set ourselves up to win. When...

Well yeah, we gotta set ourselves up to win. When the other team has more muscle, you have to use more brains to beat them. Trick plays and Hail Mary's. Deflate the ball. The goal is to win, not be fair and just say, well its time to give the other side their turn to win. No - the point is to crush them every time.

djlresearchmore than 2 years ago

djlresearch•4 days agoI would suggest that people ...

djlresearch•4 days agoI would suggest that people just get a damn ID and go vote when the polls are open. Only classless cowards whine and complain. Just teach those gosh darn Republicans a lesson and get an ID and vote them out. But but but............. no, just shut up, put on your big boy pants, get an ID and vote. Most likely if you have the smarts to do that, you are already a Republican. Looks like the Democrats took your advice but the Republican still figured out away to override democracy.

Anonymousmore than 2 years ago

The means they worked harder and smarter and made ...

The means they worked harder and smarter and made better use of their fewer votes than the Democrats. I like people who can make do with less and succeed.

POLL

Sign up to receive the latest from ShepherdExpress.com and win free tickets to area events!

Email Lists

Arts & Entertainment

Ticket Tuesday

News and Views

Week in Review

Dining

Deals and Promotions

Shepherd Events

Email Address

By submitting this form, you are granting: The Shepherd Express, 207 E. Buffalo St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53202, United States, http://shepherdexpress.com permission to email you. You may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email. (See our Email Privacy Policy for details.) Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.